A portion of the above class reserved for majors
Above class open to undergraduates and Education MA’s only
For most of their history, Muslims in the Indian subcontinent have
represented a minority of the population. Yet Islam has been an
important political and cultural force in South Asia since the 8th
Century CE, just as it continues to shape the modern faces of India,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
This course aims to provide students with an overview of the
cultural, social, and political history of Muslims in South Asia
from the 8th Century to the present day. What was life like for
Muslims in India during the medieval period? What were their
religious and cultural practices? How did Muslims relate to the
Hindu majority of the subcontinent, over which they held political
supremacy? What is the position of Muslims now in the subcontinent,
in the post-9/11 context? To begin to answer these questions, we
will spend a large portion of lectures examining the architecture
and built environment of Islam in India, as well as a wide range of
the art and literature produced by South Asian Muslims.
Students will be evaluated on the basis of several short written
assignments and examinations.